Off the wire
• Some 1,300 children recruited by armed forces, groups in 2016, UNICEF says  • Spanish stocks rise 1.33 pct  • 1st LD Writethru: Incoming UN chief appoints three women to senior UN posts  • Sudan, Egypt reiterate importance of developing joint border, trade movement  • German investment to lean to reform-oriented African countries  • Malta's first-time asylum applicants rise 19 pct in Q3  • 4 Balkan countries introduce Free Route Airspace  • Traces of explosives found on victims of EgyptAir crashed flight  • Luis Suarez agrees new contract with FC Barcelona  • Feature: Dedicated museum celebrates Greece's solidarity with refugees  
You are here: 　 Home

Greek parliament approves relief measures for pensioners despite lenders' skepticism

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Greece's parliament approved a one-off Christmas bonus on Thursday for low income pensioners, despite the skepticism of international creditors.

With the support of the deputies of the two- partite ruling coalition, as well as some of the opposition parties, the bill was passed with 195 votes in favor in the 300-member plenary.

The aim of the Left-led government, which has 153 seats in parliament, was to secure the broadest possible consensus to show to lenders that assisting the most vulnerable groups of Greek society was a cross party request, cabinet ministers explained before the vote.

A week ago, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made the surprise proclamation that 617 million euros (642 million U.S. dollars) from the 2016 primary budget surplus would be handed out to pensioners earning less than 850 euros per month on Dec. 22.

Athens insisted that it was within its rights to decide how to spend the fund, once it had reached and outperformed the fiscal targets set under the bailout agreement.

But Greece's creditors thought otherwise. On Wednesday, Eurogroup and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) announced they were freezing the implementation of the short-term measures for debt relief sealed on Dec. 5 until it was determined whether Athens' initiative was in line with the agreement. Endit